Surviving Four Decades in La Dining: the Business Resilience of Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken
By Alexander Ross
Long before opening Honey’s Kettle in 2000, Vincent Howard spent nearly three decades mastering the mechanics of commercial frying. In 1972, Howard began working for Golden Bird, a legendary Black-owned Southern California chain known for its hard-batter poultry. That kitchen served as an intensive laboratory. Howard studied the properties of high-smoke-point oils, batter adhesion, and heat retention across high-volume shifts.
When Golden Bird shifted corporate strategies in the 1990s, Howard struck out on his own. He partnered with Arvis Howard to launch the original Honey’s Kettle in Compton before relocating to Culver City in 2005. Downtown Culver City was in the early stages of a massive redevelopment push, surrounded by historic film studios and emerging corporate tech offices. While neighboring bistros courted fast trends, Howard bet on Southern-style fried chicken executed with exacting technical precision.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
